Mario Kart Sprint
Mario Kart Sprint is an upcoming racing game developed by Shooting Star Studios for the Nintendo Switch. It is the ninth installment in the mainstream Mario Kart ''series, and the twelfth if the arcade games are included. Prominent new additions include the '''Sprint Dash', which is a move that can be performed once a circular bar is filled while drifting, gifting them a fiery speed boost for a short period of time. If bumping into another racer that is not Sprint Dashing while buffed, they will get burnt and spin uncontrollably, as if they were attacked by an item such as the Fire Flower. Bikes, ATVs, Gliders, anti-gravity, and underwater driving return from past installments. Additionally, the latter one gets a slight twist, Surface Driving. Gameplay The gameplay of the game is very similar to past installments in the series, especially the two most recent installments. Keeping the traditional gameplay from all Mario Kart ''games, players can pick characters that differ in weight classes and drive vehicles that have different stats around courses (some being rather simple courses while others are hazardous) in hopes of making it to the finish line in first place. Like in ''Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 8, the number of racers in the game is twelve. Players can use Items obtained from Item Boxes. The obtained items depend on their current position, with first places typically receiving weaker items and lower places receiving more powerful items in order to compensate their lower placement. Gliding and anti-gravity return from the two latest installments in the series, and they remain unchanged. Underwater driving, however, gets an additional twist. The game introduces the Surface Driving, which allows players to drive on the water rather than under it. Some water areas in courses will contain a special boost tile or ramp that will turn their karts' wheels into Jet Motors in order to drive on it. Both ways of water driving are completely up to what the players desire. However, not all water areas support both ways. As mentioned in the game's title and seemingly being the main addition in the installment, the Sprint Dash is a new special move that can be executed by drivers during drifts. To activate the Sprint Dash, players will have to drift as much as they can by taking advantage of the various courses' curves. By doing so, a circular bar will start to fill, starting the sprint move once it fulfills. During a Sprint Dash, players' eyes turn a shiny yellow and their wheels catch on fire, giving them a temporary speed boost that allows them to counter items and other kinds of attacks. If bumping into other drivers that are not sprint dashing, the victims will get stuck in the player's kart or bike as it twists them around and releases them by pushing them, giving a fiery effect that causes them to spin uncontrollably as if they were hit by a fire-related item or obstacle. If bumping into a driver that is also performing a sprint dash, then both drivers will slightly increase their buff duration and speed for a few more seconds. Most courses feature long or big curves in order for drivers to take advantage and drift long enough to perform a sprint dash. There curves are mostly referred to as Sprint Areas. Kart customization remains similar to the last two games but mostly to Mario Kart 8's. Karts , ATVs and Bikes return. Coins, Tricks and the ability to look behind also return to the game. Like in'' the last game, Miiverse integration allows the players to share their replay videos and comments on other's in a similar feature named '''Mario Kart SprinTV'. Additionally, players are able to showcase tournaments and other kinds of events in Mario Kart SprinTV. Similarly to Mario Kart Wii, Nintendo will occasionally host tournaments and events themselves for players around the world to participate in and get exclusive prizes (Prize would depend on participants' placements). Prizes can be exclusive or rare gear for Miis, special alternate costumes, special kart bodies, etc.. Events made by Nintendo would be available for play for a limited time biweekly each month after the game's release. Finally, point management works similar to Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 8. Below is the comparison chart of the point spread between all the games: Modes Most modes return from past installments, but there are a few additions. All modes are available on single player, and various of them are available on multiplayer and online multiplayer. Grand Prix 1 to 4 Players Just like in past installments, this game has the Grand Prix mode, and therefore it works similar. Here players have to race against computer opponents, win the races in each track, and obtain the cup's trophy. The player can choose one of three default engine classes: , and . The higher the engine class, the harder and faster the races will be against opponents. This mode also supports multiplayer Grand Prix. After completing 150cc, is unlocked, which is like 150cc but with all tracks reversed. If all the engine classes including Mirror Mode are completed, will be unlocked as well. Story Mode 1 Player A completely new mode. As the name implies, players will follow a story in the game. They will be able to choose a character (only the ones that have been already unlocked), their customized kart and then embark in an adventure. The story is about the new Mushroom Kingdom Grand Prix, which is an annual championship in which everyone is invited to compete in fun go-kart races. However, Bowser gets mad because he was apparently not invited. Because of this, he, his son and other baddies soon sabotage the grand prix, Bowser steals the Champion's Trophy and self-proclaims himself the champion, also taking out the other racers and challenging them to "do the impossible" and beat him. And so the selected character embarks in a racing adventure to beat Bowser and his followers to retrieve the trophy. In order to accomplish this, the player will drive through the various lands in the Mushroom World, challenging different opponents in the way and encountering Bosses at certain points. The character is able to drive around freely in open maps, as well as getting out of the Kart and walking or running around to talk to other characters. Some characters will have sidequests or missions for the player to complete (these being similar to the missions from Mario Kart DS) while others will challenge the player to race in a chosen course. Clearing missions and obtaining money for the rest of the story will allow the player to progress. Maps also have Shops for the player to buy more kart parts using the coins in their inventory. Sometimes, a follower of Bowser will attack the player with a surprise racing challenge, and beating them will reward the player with additional kart parts and coins. Finally, after clearing a certain amount of missions in a world map, a Boss sent by Bowser will attack said map, and the player will have to defeat it in a Boss Battle in order to go to the next map. World Maps *''*'' denotes an opponent exclusive to Story Mode that does not appear in other modes as playable. *''**'' denotes an opponent initially exclusive to Story Mode, but becomes playable if buying downloadable content. Bosses Time Trials 1 Player Works the same as in past installments. Players are allowed to race in a course of their choice (if it has been unlocked already) and complete all its laps in the fastest time possible. When doing so, the player's records will be saved as Ghost, allowing them to compete against their own Ghosts and see if they can exceed their previous record. Players can also exchange their Ghosts with other players, compare records and also race against them. VS Race 1 to 4 Players Vs Race is a multiplayer mode that can be played locally with up to 4 players. Races can be customized in this mode by adjusting different settings, which include choosing which items appear, CPU difficulty, Team or Solo racing, engine class and the requirements to win races. Nothing can be unlocked in this game mode, and only the already unlocked racetracks in Grand Prix will be available here. Battle Mode 1 to 4 Players The player can choose one of five types of battles available for play. Unlike in Mario Kart 8 and similarly to the other past games, the game features 8 all-new separate arenas, with 4 of them being completely new and the other 4 being retro Battle Courses. The classic battle style consists on popping opponents' balloons to score, using the items from the Item Boxes. All the racers start with five balloons and must use the items from the Item Boxes to take away a balloon from their opponents. Hitting a rival is worth a score. Balloons can never be regained unless one is stolen from another player using a Mushroom, and if all balloons are lost points can no longer be lost or obtained. Losing all balloons halves the player's total points. The player will respawn with three balloons instead of five after losing all of them. In Coin Runners, racers collect the Coins spread in the battle course within the time limit. The racer that has the most Coins when time runs out wins. Racers can use the items to hit the opponents and let drop the Coins they've taken. They're also able to steal Coins by using Mushrooms or other items. This mode is similar to Balloon Battle, but rather than using different items, racers can only use Bob-ombs to hit their opponents and score points to win. The bombs can be obtained by running over an Item Box. Every player can hold up to five of these explosives, and throw whether forwards or drop them backwards. Any kart that make contact with the opponent's bomb or get blown by the explosion, will lose balloons. Losing all balloons will cause players to respawn with three balloons, like in Balloon Battle. A Shine Sprite is found in a random spot on the course. Once a player grabs it, they must hold on to it without getting hit by any items. If they get hit by an item, they drop the Shine Sprite and another player has a chance to get it. If the player holds the Shine Sprite for a total of 20 (30 in team battle) counts, they win. Alternatively, it can end when 5 minutes pass without anybody completing 20 counts. When the game ends, the total time the player held the Shine Sprite will be counted toward the player's total points, even if they did not hold onto the Shine Sprite until the timer reached zero. A mode in which racers play "cops and robbers", with the racers being divided into two teams. One team, known as "The Authorities", has to use Potted Piranha Plants to attack and capture players from the other team, which are known as "The Renegades". Once captured, Renegades are put inside of one of several cells floating above the course. Remaining Renegades can free teammates from the cells by driving over a key switch placed below said jail cells. The Renegades win if at least one member is still running free after the time runs out, and the Authorities win if all the Renegades get captured. In Peepa Panic, the time is set and 3 Peepas will appear and possess 3 randomly selected racers. The rest of the racers will then have to avoid the possessed ones or they will pass the Peepa onto them. Every player starts with 100 points, and their points will start decreasing after being tagged by a Peepa. If they manage to pass it onto another driver, their points counter will start to slowly recover. Having their points reduced to 0 will disqualify them. When the timer has 20 seconds left, 3 more Peepas will appear and possess more racers. The winner is the racer with the most points, or the last one standing when time runs out. In this mode all racers are equipped with bags. Players will grab the bag and must try to nab on another racer to take their Items. Some Items are scattered over the course and are not usable, they're just taken and saved in the bag. Also, sometimes a different colored Nabbit will surprisingly appear on the arena and will randomly try to steal various racers' items and after that it will try to avoid any racer. The racer that catches the Nabbit first will be awarded with all the stolen Items by it. The one that has the most Items in the end wins. Online 1 to 12 Players (Nintendo Network Support) In Online mode, one or two local players can play over the internet against other players. Online mode contains five options: *'Worldwide': Players can race with up to eleven other racers around the world. Players are also able to join worldwide rooms with custom rules (like an online VS Mode). Additionally, players can also create their own room with their desired custom rules for other players around the world to join. Alternatively, online Battle Mode is also available, and worldwide rooms for battles can be created as well. *'Regional': Like in Worldwide, players can race with up to eleven other racers, but only racers in their region. The rest is the same: players can create or join regional rooms for races or for battles. *'Friends': Choosing Friends will allow players to race against friends from the Friends menu, or join their friends' rooms if there are currently any. Again, like in VS Mode, players and friends can choose custom rules for the races. *'Tournament': Here, players are allowed to create their own tournaments by choosing an icon, a name, the rules, the times in which the tournaments are available (weekly, daily, etc) and set the tournament's availability for joining (open to anybody, code required, open only in region or open to players of certain ratings only). Players can also join other people's tournaments. If a tournament features DLC tracks for playing, players that haven't purchased the respective packs will not be able to join until they buy them. *Special Tournament: Or Competition Mode, consists in online tournaments created by Nintendo for play biweekly after the game's release. These can be 1-player or multiplayer missions, VS races and/or Boss Battles. When playing worldwide or regional, players once again earn VR points (starting with 1000 by default) based upon their rankings in races and battles. Special Tournament 1 to 12 Players (Depends on the tournament; Nintendo Network Support) Also known as Competition, this option is very similar to Mario Kart Wii's Tournament and it is unavailable by default in the Online menu and will become available once Nintendo hosts a tournament, which happens biweekly and notifies the players in their Switch Menu messages and the game's Main Menu. After choosing Special Tournament, the player will have to wait for a special tournament room, and choose their respective character and customize their karts after entering one. Participants will then be sent to the special tournament's corresponding course or arena, in which one of several tasks and rules might occur (from regular races with tweaks on the courses to battles, missions or boss battles). After finishing a special tournament, each participant will receive a special prize depending on their placements (rare or exclusive gear for Miis, special alternate costumes, special kart bodies, etc.). There are some 1-player tournaments that don't require players to wait for a room but instead start immediately after they choose their characters and kart parts. Prizes in 1-player tournaments vary depending on how well the player did. A ranking system can be viewed before choosing to enter the current tournament, to see the rankings from previous ones. Most Special Tournaments are showcased by Nintendo in Mario Kart SprinTV. Characters There will be 48 total playable characters, consisting of 15 default characters and 33 unlockable characters. The total amount of characters in this game is the highest in the series. It has been confirmed that downloadable content will be released in the future after the game's release, bringing more characters to the game and slightly increasing the roster. Starting Drivers Unlockable Drivers Downloadable Drivers The game includes two downloadable content packs, similarly to the previous installment. Both packs contain 4 playable characters, making eight total and increasing the total number of playable characters to 56. Like in Mario Kart 8, if both packs are purchased, the player will obtain new colors for certain characters. Color Skins By purchasing the two DLC packs the player immediately obtains new colors for certain characters. There is a total of 32 color skins, which if counted as separate drivers, increase the total number of characters to 88. King Boo's "skin color" is the only skin color that slightly changes the original model. NOTE: CPUs will never drive as different colored characters. Unlocking Criteria Character Emblems Driver Stats Like in the previous 2 installments, drivers are in a specific group with their own stats. *'Speed': It is the vehicle's top speed. Doesn't affect off-road level. **'Ground Speed': Top speed on land with normal gravity. **'Underwater Speed': Top speed under water. **'Water Speed': Top speed above water. **'Air Speed': Top speed while gliding. **'Anti-Gravity Speed': Top speed on land with anti-gravity. **'Sprint Speed': Top speed during a Sprint Dash. *'Acceleration': It is the rate of the vehicle it takes to reach a top speed from a standing position. *'Handling': It is the vehicle's ability to turn around, and if its stat is high it means it's able to turn sharper. **'Ground Handling': Turning ability of the vehicle on land with normal gravity. **'Underwater Handling': Turning ability of the vehicle under water **'Water Handling': Turning ability of the vehicle above water. **'Air Handling': Turning ability of the vehicle while gliding. **'Anti-Gravity Handling': Turning ability of the vehicle on land with anti-gravity. **'Sprint Handling': Turning ability of the vehicle during a Sprint Dash. *'Weight': It is the vehicle's weight. Higher weights are able to push lower weights. *'Traction': The grasp of the vehicle. Drivers with better traction are unlikely to slip on certain terrains and can stay steady on the road better. *'Mini-Turbo': It is the duration of the vehicles' mini-turbo speed boosts. Body frame sizes The size of the vehicle will change to Small, Medium or Large, depending on the character. The size change can influence the vehicle's hitbox. Mii's body frame size depends on how tall or heavy it is. Courses Nitro Courses There are currently 40 tracks in the main game, consisting of 20 new tracks and 20 retro tracks. Like in the retro tracks from the 3DS and Wii U installments, the retro tracks feature altered sections in order to incorporate gliding, underwater and surface driving, anti-gravity and sprint dash features. Names in italic are names used in the PAL version. Retro Courses Downloadable Courses The game's two downloadable content packs are revealed to include 2 cups for a total of 4 additional cups, adding 16 more courses to the game that increase the number of courses to 56 total. This makes Mario Kart Sprint the most extensive game in the series, beating Mario Kart 8 which had 48. Battle Courses Twelve battle courses are present in Mario Kart Sprint, six being new and the other six being retro. Like in regular races, an introductory cutscene of the arena occurs at the start of a battle. Staff Ghosts Like in Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8, there are Normal Staff Ghosts the player can race against in Time Trial. However, this time the rewards for beating a Normal Staff Ghost are both Expert Staff Ghosts from Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 7, ''and '''Stamps' from Mario Kart 8. Additionally, unlocking Expert Staff Ghosts can help unlock certain characters and kart body parts in the game. Items Items found on the track New Items Returning Items Vehicle Parts Bodies Tires Gliders *''Italic'' = Part is unlockable. ** = Changes color, depending on the character. *** = Changes color for female characters. Downloadable Content Like Mario Kart 8, this game received an update to include an in-game shop feature through which players can purchase and / or pre-order downloadable content packs. It is also possible to buy them in the Nintendo eShop like normal. So far, Nintendo has released two add-on packs. Both packs include four additional characters, four vehicles and eight courses in two cups. ''Kirby x Mario Kart Sprint'' The first pack is titled "Kirby x Mario Kart Sprint" and it was revealed during mid- 2018 and released on july 2018 after the game's release. It includes Dixie Kong, Chargin' Chuck, Meowser and Kirby from the Kirby franchise. Vehicles included are the returning Egg 1 and Sport Bike and the new Warp Star and Chargin' Racer. The cups included are the Dream Cup and the Acorn Cup. These cups combine retro courses with new courses, with the first two courses in each being retro and the last two courses being nitro. Purchasing both this and the Pokémon x Mario Kart Sprint pack automatically gives the player alternate color skins for characters: Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Toad, Shy Guy, Luma, Hammer Bro.. King Boo, Pianta, Spike and Metal Mario. ''Pokémon x Mario Kart Sprint'' The second pack, titled "Pokémon x Mario Kart Sprint" was revealed during mid-2018 two days after the first pack's reveal, and released during october 2018 after the game's and the first pack's release. It includes Monty Mole, Professor E. Gadd, Pom Pom and Pikachu from the Pokémon franchise as playable characters. Vehicles included are the returning Fire Red and Bruiser, and the new Yellow Magnet and the Arwing (the latter one being from the Star Fox series). The Fire Red, however, is slightly modified to be an ATV rather than a regular kart. Cups included are the Cloud Cup and the Pokéball Cup. Both cups also combine retro courses with new courses. Purchasing both this and the Kirby x Mario Kart Sprint pack automatically gives the player alternate color skins for characters: Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Toad, Shy Guy, Luma, Hammer Bro.. King Boo, Pianta, Spike and Metal Mario. Soundtrack Gallery Logos and Boxarts Logo MKS.png|Logo. Boxart MKS NA.png|North American Box art. Boxart MKS.png|European Box art. Miscellaneous MKS SelectScreen.png|Character Selection Screen (DLC included) Trivia *This is the first game in the Mario Kart series and in Mario spin-offs in general to feature a character from the Wario games, that character being Captain Syrup from the Wario Land series. **It is also the second game in the Mario Kart series and Mario spin-offs in general to feature characters from the Mario ''RPG games, with Dreambert making an appearance from the ''Mario & Luigi series. The first games to do this are Mario Party 5 and Mario Kart DS, with the appearances of the Star Spirits and Goomboss, respectively. **This is also Pauline's and Captain Syrup's first playable appearance in any game as well as Captain Syrup's first 3D appearance. *The Battle Mode Peepa Panic shares its name with a minigame from Mario Party 10. *During a Sprint Dash, characters' eyes become a shiny yellow, with most of them showing an angry stare. **This is very similar to when characters obtain a Smash Ball and are ready to perform a Final Smash in the Super Smash Bros. series. *The Egg Cup and the Bell Cup were both downloadable cups in Mario Kart 8, but they return in this game as part of the already available cups, increasing the number of cups to 10 instead of 8 and the number of courses to 40. **This makes Mario Kart Sprint the second most extensive game in the series without the need of DLC, Mario Kart: Super Circuit being the first. *After 14 years of absence, Tutankoopa makes a surprise cameo appearance in Tutankoopa Gritlands' course logo, which is also under his name. **In said course, a big Tutankoopa-like statue appears and comes to life in order to attack passing drivers in the last 2 laps. However, it is unknown if it is Tutankoopa himself. *Toadette can be seen holding a Couple's Cake from Paper Mario; The Thousand-Year Door in the Toadette's Café course logo. *Wiggler becomes a Flutter while driving a bike. *Despite his gigantic size in Super Mario 3D World, Plessie is resized significantly in order to fit in the karts and bikes, similarly to how Honey Queen was resized in Mario Kart 7. Category:Games Category:Fan Games Category:Racing Games Category:Rated E Games Category:Rated 3 Games Category:Multiplayer Games Category:Single Player Games Category:Nintendo Network Category:Home Console Games Category:DohIMissed's Games Category:Completed articles Category:Mario Kart (series) Category:Mario (series) Category:Nintendo Switch Games Category:Handheld Games Category:Mario Kart Games